Harry Potter and the Wizards of Skaro
by Writersaurus Rex
Summary: As if trying to destroy Voldemort weren't challenge enough, Harry Potter must also try to overcome the Dark Lord's mysterious new allies. Even with the Doctor's help, can he stop the lethal combination of Daleks and Dark Magic, or will muggle and wizard alike be destroyed?
1. Prologue

It was shortly after dusk that the two Death Eaters appeared out of thin air in the lane leading to Lucius Malfoy's mansion. They looked at each other suspiciously, each with his wand drawn and pointed at the other, before they gave a quick nod of recognition and put their wands away.

They exchanged small talk as they walked up the lane. They did not break their stride as they reached the locked wrought-iron gate, but simply raised their left arms. When their arms touched the iron, they simply passed through as though the gate weren't there.

It took a few minutes for the pair to reach the manor. Yaxley was so anxious that he drew his wand at an unexpected rustling in the hedge, but relaxed somewhat when he saw that it was only one of Malfoy's prize albino peacocks.

The front door of the manor house opened of its own accord at their approach. Yaxley and Snape walked quickly down the hall, the figures in the paintings watching them intently. The two stopped at the drawing room, hesitating for a moment before Snape turned the the bronze handle.

Everyone was seated around a long, ornate table. The only light in the room came from a large roaring fire beneath a marble mantelpiece. Snape and Yaxley waited for a minute while their eyes adjusted to the dim light.

Their eyes were drawn first to a woman suspended upside-down over the table, turning slowly as if hanging from an invisible rope. Then they saw a metallic figure glinting in the firelight in one corner of the room, almost obscured by the furniture piled carelessly against the wall, looking much like a giant pepper pot. Only two people at the table didn't frequently glance at the thing. One was a pale young man who was sitting in the chair closest to the dangling woman, who seemed unable to keep from looking up every minute or so, or from seeing anything else.

The other was Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord who was without a doubt the most powerful wizard in all of Britain, if not the world. His skin was so pale that it almost seemed to glow in the darkness, scarlet cat-like eyes, and a flat snake-like nose with slits for nostrils.

"Snape, Yaxley," the Dark Lord said in a surprisingly high-pitched voice from his seat at the head of the table. "You're almost late." He motioned to the empty chair to his right. "Snape, by me. Yaxley, you will sit by Dolohov."

The two men took their places, most of the eyes around the table focused on Snape.

"Well?" Voldemort said.

"My Lord, they will move Potter from his home next Saturday, at nightfall," Snape replied.

"I see." Voldemort stared into Snape's eyes as though searching for the truth of his servant's words there. After a moment, his thin lips curved into a frightening smile.

"My Lord," Yaxley said as he leaned forward, "I have heard otherwise. The Auror, Dawlish, mentioned that Potter would not be moved until the night before his 17th birthday."

Snape smiled. "I was told that they would try to mislead us. No doubt the Auror has been enchanted to give false information. He is rather susceptible to that sort of thing."

"My Lord, Dawlish was quite certain..."

"Of course he was certain. That's how the spell works. I assure you that the Order of the Phoenix will not allow the Auror Office to play any part in Potter's protection. They believe that it's been infiltrated."

"They got that bit right, eh, what?" A squat man guffawed from just beyond Yaxley. A few others around the table chuckled.

Voldemort did not laugh, but merely gazed up at the woman above the table. "Where are they going to take the boy?" he asked when the laughter died down.

"To the home of one of the order," Snape replied. "It has been given every protection that they could provide. There is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless the Ministry falls before then."

"Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort asked.

"My Lord, I have good news. I have finally succeeded in taking control of Pius Thicknesse."

Many of the Death Eaters cheered at the news. Thicknesse, the head of Magical Law Enforcement, was second in power only to the Minister of Magic himself, and with him under their control it should only be a matter of time before the Ministry was Voldemort's.

Voldemort nodded his approval. "It is a start. But we must still proceed with caution. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our men before we strike. One misstep could have dire consequences."

"Of course, my Lord. But Thicknesse has contact not only with the Minister himself, but with the other department heads as well. It will be easy now to take control of the others, and once we do, they will unite to bring Scrimgeur down."

"But I very much doubt that it will be done before they move Potter in a few days." Voldemort's gaze returned to those around the table.

"We have several people at the Department of Magical Transportation," Yaxley said. "If he Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we will know."

"The Order won't use anything that even remotely involves the Ministry," Snape said.

"So, he will have to move into the open, then. Excellent." Voldemort looked once more at the woman over the table. He sat in silence for several minutes, watching her indifferently.

The Death Eaters spoke for some time, and Voldemort took the wand of Lucius Malfoy for his own use as he could no longer trust his wand to act against Harry Potter.

None of them noticed the eye stalk of the construct in the corner as it moved to observe each of them in turn. Most of them, it only watched for a few seconds, if that. But it seemed to linger quite some time on Voldemort, Snape, and the boy, Draco Malfoy.

"My Lord," Lucius Malfoy finally ventured. What of those?" He gestured at the thing in the corner.

"What of them, Lucius? Do you object to their using your mansion as a base of operations? They are our allies, just as the Dementors, the giants, and the trolls are. But if you are concerned for your family's safety, do not be. They will only attack those who are inferior to us, the muggles and the mud-bloods and the blood traitors. Such as our guest here." Voldemort gestured with his wand at the woman over the table. "You recognize her, do you not, Draco?" Voldemort looked up at the woman as she turned slowly in place.

The pale young man looked up and nodded once, wordlessly.

"For those who have not set foot in Hogwarts these last few years, this is Professor Charity Burbage, former teacher of Muggle Studies there."

One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor as Burbage continued to slowly rotate. "Severus, help me, please!" she begged when she was facing Snape. Tears ran up her ruddy face.

"Silence!" Voldemort snapped with a flick of his wand. Burbage's mouth continued to move, but no sound came out.

"As if it weren't offensive enough that she was teaching our children that muggles are our equals," he sneered with unmistakable contempt, "but last week she wrote a rather moving defence of mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. She claims that we must accept those thieves of our magical rights. That it is inevitable, even desirable, that purebloods breed with mudbloods, or even muggles, until there are none of us left."

No one around the table made a sound. The anger and disgust in Voldemort's voice was plainly evident to all.

"Such treasonous believes are punishable by death. But I shan't sully even your wand, Lucius." Voldemort turned to the thing in the corner. "Exterminate her," he said softly.

It rolled out of the corner, looking rather like a large pepper pot, the height of a small man, with two large metal wands and a plunger sticking out of it. Firelight glinted off the rows of knobs running up and down the thing's body. "I obey!" it screamed, its voice metallic and inhuman.

A green light shot from one of the rods, hitting Burbage directly. Her face contorted in a silent scream, the light so intense that her skeleton was visible for several seconds before her lifeless body fell to the table.


	2. I: The Wedding Crashers

The wedding of William Arthur Weasley and Fleur Isabelle Delacour had gone off without a hitch, and the reception was in full swing. The reception was not, however, going as smoothly as the wedding had. The renowned Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum had almost come to blows with Xenophilius Lovegood (the publisher of The Quibbler) over an amulet that Lovegood wore. Harry Potter was disguised with a Polyjuice Potion and was passing himself off as Bill's cousin Barny Weasley. He had spent several uncomfortable minutes trapped between Elphias Doge and Muriel Weasley, listening to their rather heated discussion about Albus Dumbledore and his tragic sister Ariana.

Harry sat, overwhelmed by everything he had just heard. He was furious with Dumbledore, and couldn't believe that the man he had trusted with his life had lived for several years in the same village where Harry was born but had never once mentioned that they had this in common. What else did he know that he couldn't be bothered to tell me? he wondered.

"I just can't dance another step," Hermione Granger sighed as she sat in an empty chair next to him. Hermione slipped her shoes off under the table and started to rub her feet. "Ron's fetching us some more butterbeers." She looked over her shoulder quickly, then leaned forward. "Do you know what's going on with Viktor and Luna's dad? They looked like they were arguing."

Harry said nothing, as though he wasn't even aware that Hermione was there. He blinked quickly before he looked at her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Barny, are you okay?"

He shook his head, not sure where to begin. "Can we talk somewhere?" he said, pushing his chair back and standing up. Hermione, a concerned frown on her face, had just slipped her shoes back on and stood up herself when a large silvery lynx came down through the canopy. "The Ministry has fallen, and Scrimgeur is dead," it said in Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep, sonorous voice. "They are coming!"

It took several seconds for everyone to realize what he had said. Harry and Hermione drew their wands as they looked around. Pandemonium reigned as they forced their way through the crowd, looking for Ron.

Masked and hooded figures began to appear in the crowd, wands drawn. Just as quickly as they arrived, they were greeted by those wedding guests not running around in a blind panic or had not Disapparated at Shacklebolt's warning. Harry could hear shouts of "Protego!" and "Expelliarmus" mixed with the "Crucio!" and "Avada Kedavra!".

Harry ducked as a streak of green light passed by, accompanied by a scream of "Exterminate!", and struck Muriel. She screamed in agony, her skeleton visible through her skin, before falling to the ground.


	3. II: Tottenham Court Road

Harry barely had time to see the...thing that was firing the green beams of light from a wand protruding from one side when Hermione grabbed his arm. He could feel her turn in place, then he saw and heard nothing as darkness crushed him from every direction and he was squeezed tightly through space.

"Where are we?" Ron asked.

Harry blinked at the sudden light and looked around. Hermione still had a grip on his arm, and Ron had grabbed her from the other side. They were obviously not at the Burrow anymore. Throngs of Muggles pushed by, with more than the occasional glance at the young wizards in their fancy dress robes.

"Tottenham Court Road," Hermione replied as she looked around. "Start walking. We need to find someplace to change."

They walked for a few minutes. Ron turned red in the face when an attractive young woman laughed uproariously when she saw him.

"Why didn't I bring the Cloak with me?" Harry muttered angrily. "The one time all year I don't..."

"It's okay, Harry, I have it," Hermione said. "And clean clothes for all of us. Let's go in here." She ducked into a side alley, looking back to make sure that Harry and Ron were following as she led them out of sight.

"What do you mean, you've got my cloak and clothes?" Harry frowned, as Hermione stuck her arm into the beaded handbag past the elbow.

"Here we go." She started to pull jeans, sweatshirts, and the silvery Invisibility Cloak out of the handbag. "You two change, I'll keep watch."

"How the hell did you fit all that in that?" Ron gaped in surprise.

"Undetectable Extension Charm," Hermione said over her shoulder She stood by a rubbish bin next to a doorway. "I've got everything we could possibly need in here. I've been ready to go for weeks, just in case. I packed your rucksacks this morning and put them in here. Now, hurry up and change before someone comes wandering down here."

The boys changed quickly, as Hermione watched the mouth of the alleyway. She slipped her robe off and folded it neatly; she had no need to change, as she was already wearing muggle clothes underneath.

"You are absolutely amazing, you know that?" Ron said as he handed her his balled-up robe.

She just smiled in reply. "Harry, hurry up and get your Cloak on!"

Harry wrapped the Cloak around him and pulled the hood up over his head, slouching a little bit so that even his trainers were invisible.

"What happened? What was that?"

"We can't think about that now," Hermione said. "You're the one they're after, and we can't risk you going back."

"She's right," Ron added. "Pretty much the whole Order was there, they can handle the Death Eaters."

"Yeah, but can they handle that other thing?"

"What other thing?" Ron and Hermione said together.

"I don't know what it was. It was big, looked like a pepper pot with three rods sticking out of the top, and it was shooting green beams out of one of them. And..." Harry paused and looked at Ron. "One of them got Muriel. I think she's dead."

"Auntie Muriel? Dead?" Ron felt his legs turn to rubber and he leaned against the wall to keep himself on his feet.

"Ron! Harry! We can get this sorted out later! Let's go!" Hermione grabbed Ron by the hand and pulled him toward the street, hoping that Harry was following.

"Still with us, Harry?" she whispered as she looked up and down the street.

"Yeah," he whispered back. "Lead on, MacDuff."

"'Lay on'," Hermione whispered back, at the same time Ron asked "Who's MacDuff?"

"Let's get moving," she said as she walked out onto the pavement and let go of Ron's hand.

"Why Tottenham Court Road?" Ron asked. He watched a group of obviously drunk men weaving their way along the pavement on the other side of the road.

"First place popped into my head. I just think we'll be safer around Muggles than with wizards right now."

"How do you figure that?" Ron glared at the men across the street as they started cat-calling Hermione. "Grimmauld Place is still safe, isn't it?"

"Not if Snape can get in. If he can, he may just invite his Death Eater friends in with him, and we'd be walking into a trap. We could try my parents' house, but they might check there. And I don't know if someone else has moved in yet."

They had walked out of earshot of the drunks who had been trying to get Hermione's attention, but Ron's balled-up fists at his sides showed the effort it was taking not to march across the street and teach those hooligans to leave his girlfriend alone.

Hermione suddenly turned to go into an open diner. A quick glance through the plate glass windows showed that the diner was practically empty. She held the door for Ron. "Come on, then!" she said with a quick glance up and down the street.

She found an empty booth in the corner of the diner and slid in where she could watch the door. Ron started to sit next to her, but she shook her head and gestured for him to sit across from her as she moved a little further to make room for Harry.

Hermione made a show of studying the menu when the waitress asked if they were ready to order. "Just coffee for now," she said, "we're waiting for someone else." The waitress did a poor job of hiding her impatience. "Just let me know when you're ready to order," she said before walking away.

"Have you changed back yet, Harry?" Hermione whispered.

"Not yet," he replied. "Should be any time now, I would think."

"I still don't see why we don't go to the Leaky Cauldron, get an idea of what's going on," Ron said.

"We know what's going on!" Harry replied. "The Ministry's fallen, and Voldemort's taken over!"

"But what about everyone at the Burrow? How else are we going to find out who made it out!"

"They'll let us know what's going on when it's safe to send a Patronus." Harry noticed that his voice sounded different. He looked down at his hands and watched as they returned to their normal size and shape.

"I'm back to normal, I think," he whispered.

"Go to the bathroom, then, and take your Cloak off," Hermione whispered as she read the menu. "I put a cap in your rucksack; put it on, too."

"Why?"

"You'll see. Besides, I feel ridiculous talking to empty air, and I'm sure I look like a complete nutter."

"I'll be right back."

Ron and Hermione heard Harry slide out of the booth, and saw the men's room door open and close by itself. Harry left the bathroom a couple of minutes later, just as a couple of men walked into the diner and sat in the booth behind Ron.

Ron snickered as he saw what Harry was wearing: a blue-and-white wooll cap with "SPURS" in all capital letters across the front. "What's that supposed to be?"

"It's a hat," Hermione snapped. "Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Not like he can wear a Puddlemere United hat without telling people he's a wizard! Besides, how do people recognize Harry? His hair, his scar, and his glasses. The hat covers the hair and the scar. I'm still working on what to do about the glasses."

The three ordered when the waitress came back, although Hermione wound up ordering for Ron since he didn't know what a lot of the items on the menu were.

"What was it you were saying about something at the reception, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"It...I don't know what it was. I've never seen anything like it before. It was about five feet tall, round, narrower at the top, rows of round things along the sides. It had a dome on top, and there were three rods sticking out of it. It was shooting green beams out of one of them."

"Can you draw it?"

"I think so." Harry pulled a pen out of his rucksack and drew a rough sketch on the napkin, then slid it over to Hermione when he was done.

"I think I've seen that before," she said thoughtfully.

"Once we've eaten, we should head out to the country and try to get a message to the Order."

"You can do the talking Patronus, then?" Ron asked.

"I think so."

They grew quiet when the waitress returned with their food, and ate quickly.

"Do you have Muggle money to pay for this?" Ron asked when they were almost done.

"Yes, I closed out my Building Society account before I went to the Burrow."

Harry froze, a chip halfway to his mouth, as he saw a Dalek outside the window. He elbowed Hermione and pointed at it.

He reacted almost without thinking, drawing his wand as the two men in the next booth stood up and did the same. Ron ducked when he saw Harry draw his wand.

Harry yelled, "Stupefy!" just as the first Death Eater's spell hit the wall behind him, shattering the tiles. Harry's spell caught the Death Eater square in the face, and he fell unconscious to the floor.

The other Death Eater cast a Full Body Bind curse at Harry, and he found himself bound head to foot by black ropes. Hermione caught the Death Eater with a Stunning Spell.

The Dalek turned toward them and shot a green beam from its rod, shattering the glass and striking the waitress. She screamed in agony before falling dead to the floor.

It moved through the diner door, firing indiscriminately at the diner's other customers. The air was filled with soul-rending screams as they each fell where they were.

"You will surrender Harry Potter to me!" it screamed as it turned to the three wizards. Ron and Hermione moved in front of Harry.

"Over our dead bodies!" Ron shouted back, his wand trembling slightly in his shaking hands.

The Dalek paused as it looked from Ron to Hermione and back. "Harry Potter shall not be harmed!" it finally said. "His companions are of no use! Exterminate!" it screamed as it shot a green beam.


	4. III: Out of the Frying Pan

"Protego!" yelled Hermione with a flick of her wand. The Dalek's beam weapon deflected up to shatter a light fixture overhead. She immediately followed up with "Confringo!"

The curse struck the Dalek's eyestalk. "What is happening?" it screamed before it popped and lurched to a halt, steam and smoke billowing from the burst seams along its casing.

Hermione kneeled next to Harry and pointed her wand at the black ropes that held him tight. She took a moment to steady herself before casting a quick severing charm to cut him free.

"Thank you, Hermione," he said as he shook feelings back into his arms and legs. He looked around at the cratered walls, the shattered windows, and the bodies strewn around the diner. He ran to one of the bodies and knelt, checking for any sign of life.

Behind him, Hermione raised her wand and said "Homenum Revelio," then shook her head. "I'm sorry, Harry, but the only ones alive here are us and them." She nodded in the direction of the two unconscious Death Eaters.

"I can't believe it," Harry said softly. "How did that thing kill everybody? What was it?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know. I'm almost positive I've seen it before, or at least a picture of it. If I could just remember where."

"We have to get out of here!" Ron's eyes were wide. "What if they send more?"

"Oh, all right!" Hermione snapped.

"Not yet," Harry said. "We should do something." He walked around, looking at all the bodies as Ron approached the dim, still form of the Dalek. Ron closed one eye and looked down one of the tubes.

"I should have recognized them when they came in," Harry said when he got to the Death Eaters. "They were both there when Dumbledore died.

"I would suggest we clean up the place a bit, but I don't think that's really doable anymore. The Ministry's going to have a field day with this."

"What should we do with them?" Ron asked. "Kill them?"

Harry and Hermione both barked "No!" at the same time.

"We just need to erase their memories of the last few minutes," Hermione said. "That should throw them off the trail."

"If you say so." Ron sounded skeptical. "Can you do that?"

"I think so," Hermione replied testily. "It can't be any harder than what I did to my parents!"

Ron looked down at his feet as Harry shot him a reproachful look. "Sorry, 'mione," he muttered.

Hermione pointed her wand at the darker Death Eater. "Obliviate!" she said calmly, then turned to the other one and did the same. Ron and Harry muscled the two into their booth, sitting them up across from each other.

"How did they find us?" Hermione asked. "Does Harry still have the Trace on him?"

"Can't have," Ron said. "The Trace disappears the moment he turned 17. You can't put one on an adult, that's the law!"

"Do you really think the Ministry cares about the law?" Hermione said.

"Even if it were possible," Harry said, "when could someone have done it? I haven't been alone with anyone but you and Ron's parents since I left Privet Drive."

Hermione said nothing as she looked back at the two Death Eaters. "We need to get out of here," she finally said as sirens grew louder. "The longer we stay, the more likely we are to get found out. Ron, get the lights."

"Where are we going to go?" he said has he fumbled to get the Deluminator out of his pocket.

"We could go to Gr-" Harry started to say.

"Don't say it!" Hermione snapped before he could finish. "Not in front of them!"

"Hermione, they're unconscious!" Ron pointed out. "It's not like they can hear us!"

"Let's get going, then," Harry said.

Ron flicked the Deluminator, throwing the diner into darkness. The only light came from the street lamps in the street.

Hermione paused for a second on her way out to look at the Dalek, racking her brain to remember where she would have seen one before. She looked around quickly after she closed the door, then touched the tip of her wand to the lock and muttered the locking charm under her breath.

The three hustled down Tottenham Court Road, putting as much distance between themselves and the diner before the police (or worse, the Ministry of Magic) arrived.

"I still think we should go to Grimmauld Place," Ron muttered, more to feel like he was trying than to change his friends' minds.

"But," Hermione said before Harry cut her off.

"Snape can't get in anymore, they've put up jinxes against him, right? And even if he does get past them, I would like nothing better than to get at him for what he did." Harry stopped and glared at Hermione.

She looked back, surprised that he was arguing with her, and that he looked angrier than she'd seen him in weeks.

"All right," she sighed. " Grimmauld Place it is. Let's find a place to Apparate without..."

Her voice trailed off as she spotted a Dalek turn onto Tottenham Court Road up ahead.

Ron swore under his breath. Harry gasped "Merlin's Beard!" Hermione turned around to see a couple more on the road barely a hundred metres behind them.

It took a few seconds for everyone else on the street to realize what they were seeing, and even then it took a few of them to be struck down by the Daleks' beam weapons for them to start screaming.


	5. IV: A Narrow Escape

Harry ducked a stray Dalek beam, and heard someone scream behind him. He pulled out his wand and yelled "Protego!" at the top of his lungs, erecting a bright blue barrier between himself and the nearest Dalek. He aimed his wand at the Dalek and yelled "Expelliarmus!", expecting to separate the Dalek from its beam weapon. The Dalek, instead, tumbled several metres in the air before it hit the ground and rolled to a stop.

Beside him, he could see Ron and Hermione facing the other way, toward the two Daleks down the road. Hermione used another Blasting Curse on one of them, with the same results she had achieved against the Dalek in the diner.

Ron used a Severing spell on the other Dalek. Half of its beam weapon fell off, bouncing off its skirt and hitting the tarmac with a clang much louder than Ron expected. The Dalek turned and pointed what was left of the weapon at him. He could see a green glow down the barrel, growing brighter for a second before emerald lightning danced along its metal shell. It emitted a loud noise that sounded frighteningly like a scream of pain that only lasted a few seconds.

All three wizards looked around for signs of more Daleks, but they saw nothing. Only dozens of dead bodies strewn up and down Tottenham Court Road, with their friends and families screaming in fear beside them...or worse, kneeling next to the bodies in numbed silence. A few bodies lay there with no one to mourn them yet.

Harry spoke first. "Let's go, before anyone asks us any questions." He grabbed Ron and Hermione and pulled them close, throwing his Invisibility Cloak over them. Hermione took them both by the hand and turned in place.

When they opened their eyes again, they were back on Grimmauld Place. They looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching them before they ran to Number 12, Harry grabbing the Cloak before it could blow away. Harry tapped the door with his wand. There were a number of metallic clicks and rattles before the door swung open. They took one more look up and down the street before ducking inside and slamming the door behind them.

They stood with their backs against the door, listening to the locks and chains reset themselves as the gaslights in the foyer sprang to life. Their legs turned to rubber as they realized that they were safe, and they slid to the floor.

They sat their quietly for a few minutes, catching their breath. What they could see of the house was just the way they had left it, with the exception of the troll-leg umbrella stand that had been knocked over.

"Where are those jinxes the Order set up?" Harry whispered. "Do you think Snape's already set them off?"

"If he had," Hermione whispered back, "they would just reset again."

"Only one way to be sure." Harry stood up and took a step forward, as Ron and Hermione got to their feet behind him.

"Severus Snape?" Mad-Eye Moody's voice whispered all around them, as cold air washed over Harry. He felt his tongue roll backwards in his mouth for a moment, making it impossible to speak, before it straightened out again. He heard Ron gagging behind him.

Harry took a nervous step forward. A dusty, silvery figure rose from the carpet at the end of the hall and glided toward him. The figure, which looked for all the world like the rotting corpse of Dumbledore, pointed an accusing finger at Harry, as the drapes covering the portrait of Walburga Black flew open and she started screaming at him.

"No!" Harry yelled. "We didn't kill you!"

The figure exploded into a cloud of dust that set all three to coughing. Harry looked back at the others. Ron was trembling all over, and Hermione was pale. Harry pointed his wand at the picture, and the curtains flipped shut and Mrs. Black fell silent again.

"That was..." Hermione whispered as Ron wrapped his arms around her awkwardly.

"That wasn't really him. It was just something the Order rigged up to get Snape." Harry frowned, wondering what the trap would have done to Snape if he should ever show up.

"I know that!" Hermione snapped as she pulled away from Ron. "It's still something of a shock, though. But I still think I should check something before we go any farther."

She drew her wand. "Homenum Revelio," she said as she held the wand overhead.

"Good," she said as Ron opened his mouth. "Nobody here but us."

"That's good to know," Harry said. All three looked at the dusty patch on the carpet where the faux Dumbledore had come from and, without a word to each other, walked upstairs to the drawing room on the first floor.

Ron looked out the window cautiously but didn't see anyone. Hermione sat on the sofa after lighting the gas lamps, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Harry tried in vain to conceal the rage he felt coming from Voldemort through the connection their shared in his scar.

He studied the tapestry of the Black family tree on the wall. It was only a minute or two before the pain in his scar became more than he could bear. "Back in a few...restroom," he said before he all but ran down the hall.

He had barely bolted the door behind him when the bathroom vanished around him. He fell to the floor, grabbing his head and squeezing his eyes shut. Harry saw a long room, lit only by firelight. On the floor at his feet, the blond Death Eater was screaming, his body contorted by pain. To Harry's surprise, the green beam that had Rowle in such agony was not coming from his wand but to one side.

"Are we done, Rowle? Shall I feed you to Nagini, now?" Harry waved his thin white hand, and the beam stopped. Rowle lay on the floor, panting, his hair slick with sweat.

"No more," he gasped. "Please."

"Voldemort will not forgive you this time." Harry said in a high, cold voice. "You called me back to tell me that Potter escaped, again?" He sighed dramatically.

"Draco, do you think you can kill this one? Or are you too weak?"

"I'm not too weak!" Draco said, but his face showed his uncertainty. He pointed his wand at Rowle for a long time. The tip of the wand quivered.

"You're as useless as your father," Harry finally snapped. "It's a good thing you've got your mother's blood in you." He turned to the source of the green beam.

"Show Draco how it's done, Dalek. Kill him," he said, gesturing toward Rowle, as it glided forward out of the shadows.

"I obey!" A green beam struck the Death Eater. He screamed for several seconds, his body lit up from the inside so that his skeleton was visible.

Harry's eyes snapped open as he drew deep breaths. He was curled up on the bathroom floor at 12 Grimmauld Place. He scrambled to his feet and threw open the door. Hermione stood there, her hand poised to knock, with Ron behind her.

"Those things," Harry gasped. "The ones from the wedding, and at Tottenham Court Road. They're called Daleks. They're with him. They're working for Voldemort!"


End file.
